The most performing incarnation of the Noale twin-cylinder enduro was present at the Aprilia All Stars 2023 in almost prototype form. Is it the preview of a future Tuareg 660 in the Rally version?
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Adriano600RR
Welcomed with unanimous enthusiasm during the presentation, the Aprilia Tuareg 660 didn’t take long to win great acclaim among the Italian public. The recent Adventure Of Noal was born mainly for road use, but immediately showed a marked propensity foroff road which has rapidly increased the demand for its authenticity rally version. The Aprilia top management is obviously aware of the situation and the racing department, in fact, is already putting it to the test in national competitions to find the peak of its potential. The latest evolution of this development peeked out at Aprilia All Stars, the by now traditional festival of the Veneto brand which again this year gathered thousands of its fans at the Misano Adriatico track.
daughter of aprilia racing
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The motorcycle in question has the entirely provisional name of Desert 1 Proto and is basically a stock Tuareg 660 prepared by Aprilia Racing in collaboration with the Gran of the Guareschi brothers. It is the result of the experience gained last year in the Italian Championship Motorally, where its previous version gave plenty of trouble to the more specialized and much lighter single-cylinder 450cc rivals. In its first year of militancy in the series, in fact, the twin-cylinder from Veneto triumphed without a fuss in its own G1000 class even coming close to what would have been a sensational affirmation even in the absolute.
competition cycling
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Compared to the standard bike, this version first of all has some substantial and targeted features chassis modifications, necessary to convert its street nature into an attitude more suited to enduro racing. From this also derives the greater space left at the rear for any auxiliary tanks. There were of course other interventions at the level of cyclingin particular on rims and suspensions, with a precious Ohlins fork called to replace the 43 mm Kayaba of the model stock. In addition to the towering cockpit with navigation castleit is also impossible not to notice the showy protections to defend the engine and a terminal I unload SC Project definitely more athletic than the voluminous standard solution.
preview of a future rally
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However well equipped and set up, the Deserto 1 Proto still represents the adaptation of a standard motorcycle to the racing. His parallel twin forward from 659 of the civil codecredited by 80 hp of power and 70Nm of torque as well as equipped with quickshifters, is the same as the production one. At the moment, this bike therefore represents the closest thing to a Rally version of the Tuareg 660 that can be hypothesized. And considering the success achieved by the previous evolution at its debut in competitions, there are several observers interested in seeing it at work. Among these also the many of his admirers present at theAprilia All Stars. Many of them have never forgotten the original Tuareg, a model whose various engine sizes made young plug lovers dream at the turn of the 80s and 90s, and they know that Aprilia would never have lightly dusted off a name with such a glorious past.
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